Man Portable Anti-TankGuided Missile
The Special Forces and Infantry Battalions of Army while operating in an environment characterized by a high density of mechanized threats need an effective antitank guided missile (ATGM) platform to counter the prevailing threat. To cater for the above need, Indian Army specified the qualitative requirements to design, develop and demonstrate the third generation Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM).
Project MPATGM was sanctioned to DRDO on 27 January 2015 with the scope work that included design and development of a third generation ATGM with a Launch Tube (LT) and Launcher and a Command Launch Unit (CLU), and demonstration of the system performance through ground testing and flight testing. DRDO entrusted the developmental work to Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL)–one of its Hyderabad-based laboratories–as the nodal agency with the support of sister DRDO laboratories; RCI, HEMRL, TBRL, ARDE and IRDE.
MPATGM weapon system MPATGM Weapon System consists of three major separate elements: (i) Missile in a LT called the weapon round, (ii) the CLU including Thermal Sight (TS), Gunner Display, Command Control Unit and Battery and (iii) the Launcher or Tripod. Launcher System was specified to be light and userfriendly with following functionalities: System power and health checks; missile seeker cooling; provision to display TAS and missile seeker images; display controls; target acquisition through thermal/day sight; and thermal battery and launch motor firing.
A preliminary design of the MPATGM was carried out to arrive at an aerodynamic configuration along with different sub-systems specifications and salient features. The guidance and control system designing was carried out to meet the mission performance and robustness. The design was reviewed by an expert committee chaired by Shri SK Roy, former Director RCI, and cleared for flight implementation.
Technological Challenges Some of the critical technologies realized during the project are: IIR Seeker The third-generation ATGM having fire and forget capability works on the homing signal provided by a miniature Image Infrared Seeker (IIR) housed in its front end for guidance. Configuring the optical module to focus the image on the detector and realization of the signal processing electronics to achieve the 2.5 km range with the available space within a missile of 120 mm diameter was really a challenging task. Propulsion System The propulsion system for the missile necessitated the design of a complex system with a launch motor for ‘soft launch’ of the missile from the launch tube followed by firing of the main motor in flight at a safe distance of around 10 meters from the launcher to provide safety to the operator. To arrest the large roll rates experienced by the missile while coming out of the launch tube, a jet vane mechanism has been configured in the nozzle end of the blast tube to exercise the thrust vector control in the launch phase. Main motor of this miniaturized missile comprises a dual thrust rocket motor with a boost phase and a sustainer phase to achieve top attack capability against a maximum range trajectory of 2.5 km. This column covers the pathbreaking and successful projects and programmes of the DRDO.
All the DRDO workcentres are geared up for realization of further units for forthcoming guidance mission with IIR Seekers. Guidance missions with IIR Seekers have been planned for November 2018 to prove the final configuration with seeker hardware. The missiles in final configuration could be offered for user assisted flight trials in the first quarter of 2019.
https://www.drdo.gov.in/drdo/pub/newsletter/2018/Nov_18.pdf
This is the reason Spike was shelved!
The Special Forces and Infantry Battalions of Army while operating in an environment characterized by a high density of mechanized threats need an effective antitank guided missile (ATGM) platform to counter the prevailing threat. To cater for the above need, Indian Army specified the qualitative requirements to design, develop and demonstrate the third generation Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM).
Project MPATGM was sanctioned to DRDO on 27 January 2015 with the scope work that included design and development of a third generation ATGM with a Launch Tube (LT) and Launcher and a Command Launch Unit (CLU), and demonstration of the system performance through ground testing and flight testing. DRDO entrusted the developmental work to Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL)–one of its Hyderabad-based laboratories–as the nodal agency with the support of sister DRDO laboratories; RCI, HEMRL, TBRL, ARDE and IRDE.
MPATGM weapon system MPATGM Weapon System consists of three major separate elements: (i) Missile in a LT called the weapon round, (ii) the CLU including Thermal Sight (TS), Gunner Display, Command Control Unit and Battery and (iii) the Launcher or Tripod. Launcher System was specified to be light and userfriendly with following functionalities: System power and health checks; missile seeker cooling; provision to display TAS and missile seeker images; display controls; target acquisition through thermal/day sight; and thermal battery and launch motor firing.
A preliminary design of the MPATGM was carried out to arrive at an aerodynamic configuration along with different sub-systems specifications and salient features. The guidance and control system designing was carried out to meet the mission performance and robustness. The design was reviewed by an expert committee chaired by Shri SK Roy, former Director RCI, and cleared for flight implementation.
Technological Challenges Some of the critical technologies realized during the project are: IIR Seeker The third-generation ATGM having fire and forget capability works on the homing signal provided by a miniature Image Infrared Seeker (IIR) housed in its front end for guidance. Configuring the optical module to focus the image on the detector and realization of the signal processing electronics to achieve the 2.5 km range with the available space within a missile of 120 mm diameter was really a challenging task. Propulsion System The propulsion system for the missile necessitated the design of a complex system with a launch motor for ‘soft launch’ of the missile from the launch tube followed by firing of the main motor in flight at a safe distance of around 10 meters from the launcher to provide safety to the operator. To arrest the large roll rates experienced by the missile while coming out of the launch tube, a jet vane mechanism has been configured in the nozzle end of the blast tube to exercise the thrust vector control in the launch phase. Main motor of this miniaturized missile comprises a dual thrust rocket motor with a boost phase and a sustainer phase to achieve top attack capability against a maximum range trajectory of 2.5 km. This column covers the pathbreaking and successful projects and programmes of the DRDO.
All the DRDO workcentres are geared up for realization of further units for forthcoming guidance mission with IIR Seekers. Guidance missions with IIR Seekers have been planned for November 2018 to prove the final configuration with seeker hardware. The missiles in final configuration could be offered for user assisted flight trials in the first quarter of 2019.
https://www.drdo.gov.in/drdo/pub/newsletter/2018/Nov_18.pdf
This is the reason Spike was shelved!
